Predicting 2019’s top Jayhawks: No. 11, WR Andrew Parchment

Kansas cornerback Hasan Defense (3) works for position against receiver Andrew Parchment as they compete for a throw to the end zone on Thursday, April 4, 2019 at the indoor practice facility.
by Nick Krug

As the start of the college football season inches closer by the minute, here at KUsports.com and the Lawrence Journal-World we are counting down to kickoff by each day revealing a new KU player on Benton Smith’s list predicting the top 11 Jayhawks for the 2019 season.

Les Miles will lead the Kansas football team onto the field for the first time on Aug. 31 versus Indiana State.

Among the many unknowns facing the Kansas football program and its new head coach, Les Miles, few are accompanied by as much intrigue as the receiving corps.

It seems less of a question of if the group will be able to produce. Instead, the mystery involves which receivers in particular will emerge as the targets the quarterback — whomever that is — can trust.

Although Week 1 will mark his KU debut, and Andrew Parchment is unproven at the FBS level, coaches and teammates have spent interview sessions over the past several months identifying the Class of 2019 junior college prospect as an impressive specimen during the team’s closed practices.

At 6-foot-2 and 180 pounds, the former Northern Illinois and Iowa Central Community College receiver gives the Jayhawks both some size and speed on the perimeter.

“AP,” as Parchment’s teammates call him, looks the part of a playmaker so far to them. And many have indicated they expect him to remain on that trajectory in the months ahead.

Originally from Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Parchment signed with Northern Illinois out of high school, redshirted in 2016 and spent one more year at NIU before transferring to ICCC for his sophomore year. In one shortened season of juco action (Parchment didn’t play in the final five games), he caught 23 passes for 227 yards and scored two touchdowns within a rush-heavy offense that didn’t feature him.

The way Miles, receivers coach Emmett Jones and various teammates speak of Parchment’s receiving displays, it seems he’s in store for a much larger role at KU after signing as an unheralded two-star prospect this past winter.

Said senior KU cornerback Hasan Defense of his practice battles with Parchment: “He’s probably one of the best receivers I’ve went against while I’ve been here.”